


Of the Young and the Angelic

by CoopPenny



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Confused Castiel, Crowley Being an Asshole, Cute Sam, De-Aged Sam Winchester, Gabriel Being Gabriel, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Kid Sam, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poor Sam, Protective Bobby Singer, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Gabriel, Sassy Sam, Witch Curses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-10-25 22:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10773969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoopPenny/pseuds/CoopPenny
Summary: After a witches hunt goes slightly wrong, Sam is sent back to his teenage years with no memory of his adult life. Now he has to deal with monsters, demons, his brother and damn angels.Could this get any worse?Answer: Yes...





	1. This is so messed up…

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first supernatural fanfic so don’t judge. I’m not sure about the area this could be so don’t ask (please)  
> More characters could be added as well as tags but this is it for now! Hope you like it!

Fear was a very common thing in Dean's life and line of work. He'd be crazy not to be afraid whenever he went out for a job. With every hunter and every hunt, there was always a possibility that you could die - a miss calculation, a monster's lucky hit or even it being a complete accident like falling over and hitting your head too hard. It's one of the many reasons that most hunters liked to work alone, no one wants to see their best friend ripped apart by a werewolf... Dean had been afraid of a great many things in his life but most of them centred around his worry for his little brother. He was afraid that he'd have to watch his brother die, in pain and far away from the 'apple pie life' that he'd always wanted but never got the chance to have...

That level of fear was like an all consuming pain in his chest and now was no acceptation...

They were on a normal hunt for once, dealing with the monsters in the world instead of annoying demons and asshole angels. They'd gotten a call from Bobby telling them that there had been suspicious killings in an area two towns over from where they were and asked them to check it out. Over the couple of days of investigation, it became clear that a witch was the cause of all of the High School student killings in the area.

When they pinned down the hag, they did their usual thing and geared up for the hunt - guns, knives, knuckle dusters, the whole shebang. Armed and ready for action, they drove to the witch’s house and found it suspiciously dark and empty upon their arrival. The brothers didn't think anything of it and broke into the house like trained house burglars... but without the stealing...

Dean’s heavy boots made the plush wooden floors of the modern designed house creak slightly, making the tension in the air thicken as it usually does on a hunt. Signalling to Sam to go the other way to check the whole of down stairs, Dean made his way into the living room. The room seemed deserted and empty but the hairs on the back of his neck started to stand on end that Dean liked to call his 'Hunter's instinct' and swiftly turned around only to be hit in the face with a frying pan, hitting his head on the floor as he went down. Blood gushed from his nose but he ignored it as he looked up at the witch before him now bathed in light. God, why did it have to be the smoking hot ones...

"You dare to come in my home?" she growled lowly as she set down her weapon and moved to the walls of the room, keeping him in sight and in the middle of the room.

"Sorry miss, but we can't let you kill any more innocent kids around here." he answered with a cheesy grin that probably looked kind of creepy with all the blood on his face.

"Innocent? They are anything but!" the woman fumed, "They are arrogant little brats that know no respect! They egg my house in the night. They kick in my shutters and throw rocks at my windows! They killed my husband and they show no regret! They are monsters and should all be taught a lesson! AS SHOULD YOU!!" she screamed as she prepared to throw something at Dean.

They grief ridden woman screamed and cried as threw the hex bag, she'd made that day, at Dean but none of them knew that the commotion had drawn the attention of Sam and when he arrived, it was to hear the end of the woman's screams and throwing the bag at Dean. He acted without thought as he sprinted into the room and shoved his brother out of the way. He was fast enough to move his brother but not fast enough to move himself...

The bag hit him square in the chest, exploding the room in a bright white light before his dead weight fell to the floor in his unconsciousness.

Dean did nothing less than shoot the bitch in the head before he knelt down to his little bother but as he did so, he didn't find the man that he'd known as his brother but the boy he'd grown up with.

"Oh shit..." he breathed as his fingers brushed his now teenage brother's soft cheek - for that was what he now clearly was. His brothers hair was lighter in colour and soft as it messily brushed over his forehead and closed eyes. His height had majorly decreased so that Dean was now a head taller than his brother and made little Sammy look as if he was drowning in his three layers of clothes with his large boots hanging off his feet and his trousers looked like they'd fall off of him by sheer gravity.

God, he looked so young now, probably no older than fourteen or fifteen. The witch had turned Sam into a kid so she could kill them like her victims...

"Hold on Sammy," he said to his unconscious now-teenage brother as he picked him up but couldn't help but be thankful that the usual weight and awkwardness that Sam’s older-self's height always caused, "Maybe we can keep ya this way, it's hell of a lot easier."

Dean easily made it to the car and opened the back seat to lay his baby brother down before he went back to the house to take care of everything. The hunt was only half done when they still had a body on their hands...

 

 

  
"Cas! Get your feathery ass down here! We have a problem!" Dean called once he settled his teenage brother on the motel bed and had bolted the door and downed a beer - who wouldn't?! He just saw his brother decrease in age!

There was nothing but silence for a few seconds and Dean for a second thought that maybe Cas had ignored his call but the familiar voice that sounded behind him erased all of that from his mind, "Hello, Dean."

"Jesus Christ! Why do you always appear behind us?! One day you're gonna give me a heart-- never mind!" Dean ranted as the angel he called upon just stood there with a dead-eyed expression, "We, er, we had some trouble with the hunt..." Dean finally explained as he stepped aside to reveal his de-aged younger brother.

That got a reaction!

Castiel's eyes widened slightly at the sight before him and Dean began to explain. It took him a second to realise that he'd heard of this spell before but it was very old and very powerful magic and hardly anyone had ever seen it before. Castiel didn't even think that he'd be able to undo it alone!

"Oh," was the only thing he could think to say as he stepped closer to the teenage Sam Winchester and couldn't help but acknowledge how small he seemed to be now.  
"Cas," Dean started cautiously, "Do you think you can reverse it? Is it even reversible?"

"The magic used is too strong for me to undo but... it can be done and I know how can do it." Castiel offered, regret filling his chest and the terrible idea had already started to give him a headache but it was the only thing he could think to do.

Dean eyed Cas suspiciously as he looked the angel dead in the eye and put his hands on his hips, "Alright... who can?"

Wincing only slightly, Castiel opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a small groan coming from the bed. It was that moment that Sam decided to wake up and make his discomfort known.

"Dean," the teen groaned as he threw his arm over his eyes, "Wake up, it's time for school and go to your detention today instead of making out with a girl, yeah?" Sam offered in a lighter and softer voice than his adult self spoke in. The newly made teen then sat up, his eyes still firmly held shut as he yawned and lazily rubbed a hand over his face and hair, messing it up slightly in the process, before he opened his eyes to stare at the two men in front of him who now stood utterly still.

In the space of two seconds, Sam went from a drowsy teenager to a wide eyed kid trying to back away from the strangers and find a knife that should have been under his pillow but wasn't there.

He turned back to the men with dangerously narrowed eyes and his lean muscles tense for a fight as he gritted out, "Who are you?"

Dean stared at Sam with wide eyes, trying to come to grips that his little Sammy didn't recognise him in the slightest and now probably thought he was some kind of kidnapper… Before he could get his jaw unhinged enough to form words, Sam leaped over to the other side of the room in an attempt to get the gun Dean had thrown carelessly on his bed when he'd come in. Thankfully, he was intercepted by Cas as the angel grabbed the teen and pinned his arms to his sides using his superior strength against the struggling teen.

"Get the fuck off of me you bastard! What did you do to Dean!? I'll kill ya if you hurt my brother!" the kid ranted as he thrashed and shouted against Castiel who could only cast a wide eyed glance at Dean as the teen struggled more violently.

That snapped Dean out of his daze as he ran over to the pair, dodging the wild kicking and grabbed Sam's face with his hands, "Sam! Sammy stop! It's me! It's me, Dean!"

The teen thrashed in the angel's arms as he tried to get his face away from the rough hands of the stranger in front of him, glaring daggers when he man claiming to be Dean held on, shushing him like a crying baby and trying to be gentle, "Let go of me! You're not my brother, asshole! How dumb do you think I am?!"

"Sammy, Sammy please," Dean begged, unwanted tears springing to his eyes at the thought of his little Sammy not recognising him, "It's me! I'm-I'm just older now! Do you remember that time in the field on the 4th of July '96! We got our own box of fireworks and we set the whole thing alight and it was just the two of us!" Dean babbled on desperately as Sam slowly stopped struggling and stared wide eyed at Dean, recalling the event that happened not a few years ago for him, their Dad never found out about the ordeal.

"Dean?" he said tentatively in a quiet voice as he looked into the man's vibrant green eyes that were just like his brother's.

"Yes, please Sammy. It's me, I promise, it's me." Dean said as he took Sam away from Cas and hugged his little brother, just thrilled that he was alright and knew who he was.

"Wh-What happened and why are you so old? And who's that guy?" Sam gestured to Castiel as he calmed down from his fright and the thought that people had come to kill him and Dean (it wouldn't have been the first time someone broke into their motel room to do that).

Dean gave a small breathless laugh as he pulled away from Sam and looked down at him, “Well…” Dean started off, unsure as to how to start off his explanation, “You and I went on a hunt- Older you, I mean. Huntin’ a damn witch and she threw a hex bag which turned you into a teenager but I promise that I’m going to fix this.” Dean finished off, now on one knee as he spoke to Sam. The kid gave a reluctant nod in acceptance, looking a little confused but trusting his brother (no matter the age change) to solve it. Pointing his thumb over his shoulder, Dean gestured to Cas, "That's Cas, he helps out on the hunt sometimes and I'm not that old, bitch!"

A small laugh came easily from Sam's mouth as he shook his head, eyes bright with amusement, "Yeah, you are, you jerk. Should I start calling you 'gramps' now?"

"Why you little--" Dean grinned predatorily as he pounced on Sam, getting him in a light headlock and rubbing his knuckles over his head, messing up his hair even more. Both of them were laughing like they were kids - although, that was true from Sam's end... Castiel couldn't help but smile a little at the brothers' happiness. They rarely ever laughed any more and to be honest, Castiel didn't think Sam was capable of smiling so brightly before and had never heard Dean laugh so freely. A small strange warmth settled in his chest at that thought but then he frowned at it in confusion, maybe there was something wrong with his vessel?

"So... what are you?" Sam asked, bringing Castiel back from his trance and finding that the youngest Winchester was looking at him with a slight inquisitive frown.

The reaction was almost instantaneous as Dean froze in place and his eyes widened in shock and a bit of fright - if he'd wanted to lie, it was useless to try now with such an obvious reaction.

Surprisingly, Sam held up his hands in mock surrender as he gave Dean a small encouraging smile, "Easy, old man, I'm not gonna go tattle-tailing to Dad just because your latest lay had been a Vamp or something."

Dean blinked in shock at Sam's easy acceptance but a frown quickly took it's place as he pointed accusingly at Sam and began, "Did you just call me an old--"

With an internal eye-roll, Castiel decided to interrupt the ranting from the older Winchester as he stated in a strong voice, "I am an angel of the Lord and my name is Castiel." His wings appeared as great shadows behind him as the lights flickered, just like they had with Dean on their first meeting.

Sam's eye twitched at the identity reveal and his eyes flicked back and forth between the shadowed wings and Cas' flat expression.

The silence stretched between them to the point that it became awkward. Then Sam drew in a deep shuddering breath before he looked away and gave his brother a small nod of acceptance. Almost absentmindedly, he looked out the window and just looked at the golden daylight of the rising sun for a second before he focused his eyes back to Dean, avoiding looking at Castiel, "Can I have a 20?"

After he got the money from Dean, he got up and said, "I'll be in the library." and then he was out the door and away from the motel before any one could even think about calling him back.

"Did I say something wrong?" Castiel asked, frowning in confusion. The first time Sam had found out about angels and Lord's existence, he'd been more awed and welcoming to see that angels were real and that he'd gotten a chance to meet one. His younger version's reaction was... confusing in comparison to their first meeting. It was like, Sam resented him for being real...

Slowly, Dean turned from the door to face Cas and answered with only a small amount of hesitation, "No, er, it's fine," he stammered, "I think you gotta wait for Sammy to tell ya that one, I can only think of a couple of reasons why..."

Castiel frowned a bit at the useless information that he had gained from his question but decided to let it slide and take Dean's advice to ask Sam later. He nodded before he gestured towards the door that Sam had just walked out of, "Should we go after him?"

"No. Let him cool off. If I remember right, he always came back looking calmer after he got back from the libraries at that age." Dean said dismissively, ignoring the tightening knot in his stomach, "Right, you said you knew a guy?"

Nodding his head, Castiel began with his explanation, ignoring the growing horror in Dean's eyes as he did so.

 

 

  
Sam huffed in annoyance as he walked down the empty paths of the small town. It was too early for anyone to be up and about. By the positioning of the sun, Sam could estimate that it was round five-ish in the morning. Probably two or so hours until the library opens but if he was lucky then maybe a cafe was open for breakfast at this hour?

Looking around, Sam gave a faint smile as he found just that. The place was small and it was easily missed if someone wasn't looking hard enough. It had a window cut at the front with some booths and tables dotted around. No one was there yet, much to Sam's relief, he liked it when it was quiet with fewer people. He sat down and ordered his usual morning coffee with some waffles and syrup to go with it.

As he waited for his order, Sam looked back on the past hour he'd had to endure with his now-extremely-older brother. He frowned at the weirdness of it all. After he was able to calm down enough to look, he found that his brother looked the same and completely different at the same time. His hair with darker but still cropped short in a near buzz-cut fashion. His shoulders were broader with a more noticeable physique and his hands were now completely rough with hard worked skin and scars on his palms while before they were still slightly soft with less noticeable scars. His head also looked a little bigger and Sam wasn't sure if that was to do with ageing or just being big-headed in general. Now that he thinks about it, Dean kind of looked like their Dad but with lighter hair colour and eyes.

He smiled to the young girl serving him as she set his plate and coffee down in front of him before he tucked in. He felt like he hadn't eaten in ages- Oh, wait! He hadn't.

Before he woke up to the confusing morning, he had been on a hunt with Dean and his Dad. He'd been stuck doing extensive research as well as going to school to try and get a half decent education and Dad hadn't really given him any money so the most he'd been able to afford was a couple of salted peanut packets and apples.

Inhaling his food like someone was going to take it away from him, Sam's brain trailed off again. He refused to tackle the angel situation, and he didn’t want to think about this future thing that had decided to pop up and screw everything over, so he started to think about himself. By the looks of it, he was big... Like massive big... When he stood up for the first time, his trouser legs pooled around his ankles and his jeans were more close to slipping off than staying on. The layers of shirts and a jacket nearly hung off of his shoulders and his only the tips of his fingers could be seen through the long arms of the huge jacket. When he'd gotten outside, he had to do up his belt the tightest it would go and his had to roll up his ridiculously long jeans and fasten the laces of his boots so they wouldn't fall off whenever he took a step. He had to roll up his sleeves as well as zip his jacket on halfway so that it wouldn't slide off of his shoulders. He felt like a toddler trying on his Dad's clothes to make him look like a man... It was ridiculous!

From the corner of his eye, he could see some of the servers giving him odd looks, whether it was for the fact he was inhaling his food or because he looked like some homeless kid that had decided to put on any piece of clothing he could find, he didn't know.

He ordered another cup of coffee before he finished his meal and walked out the door into the morning light. He'd managed to drag that out of about an hour and more people were beginning to walk the paths of the town.

Sight-seeig for about thirty more minutes, Sam finally found the library and, to his relief, it was open with the very few students there that needed to do their homework before heading off to school. He sighed as he breathed in the smell of hundreds upon hundreds of books, siting on shelves and most likely in their different genres and in alphabetical order. He didn't care what he read, it could be a newspaper for all he cared but he needed to get sucked into the story and escape his own for a while.

Wondering into the fiction section, he picked up a random book which he'd later on discover was a seven book series called 'Harry Potter' - he liked the first and second book he could find in the section but left the rest to read at another time and went into the computers section instead.

He couldn't help but let out a low whistle at the sight of the computer before him. Rather than the computer with the huge boxes on the back with a small screen, it looked slim and beautiful with clear letters on the screen and when he went on it, it was super fast to what he was used to. One benefit of the future.

On the computer, Sam spent several more hours researching everything he needed to know about angels and the populated clouds above. He knew that some of the facts were complete bull and that he shouldn't totally depend on any of it. The writers made it sound all sunshine and rainbows and that God and his angels had the best intention for all humans. Sam couldn't help but scoff at that bit. Yeah, best intentions! He researched about the story of Lucifer and his rebellion in heaven and the four archangels. In Sam's personal opinion, Gabriel seems like the one with less of a stick up his ass...

He researched throughout the day, looking at the changes in the world since 1998 and about the feathered nuisances. He read and read until he felt a tap on his shoulder that made him jump the tiniest bit, he turned to find the librarian that he saw at the entrance that morning telling him that the place was closing. She even let him take home the third book of the Harry Potter series when he asked her.

Dully, Sam made his way back to the mouldy, old motel that showed him just how far his dreams of school went. His older self was still stuck hunting with his brother, still stuck doing a job that they didn't get payed for and could die at any time. Great. Looks like his Dad got what he always wanted...

When he walked in, he was immediately assaulted with a paper bag being chucked at his face. He looked in it to see greasy chicken and chips; he'd prefer to eat something healthier, maybe a vegetarian meal or something, but he'd rather eat that than nothing at all. Looking up from his bagged food, he found Dean grinning at him with laughter dancing in his eyes, he looked like such a kid that it made Sam snort a laugh.

"What?" he asked, still grinning as he opened up his arms in fake innocence.

"It's like you never grew up and you still have the maturity of a seven year old." Sam said bluntly as he ripped open his bag and shovelled the contents in his mouth.

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

They sat in silence once more and the only sound that filled the room was the crinkling of paper and the munching of food. Sam liked it like that. It was peaceful and Dad wasn't there to constantly complain about their shooting skills to either of them.

"So... I'm guessing Dad's dead?" he asked out of curiosity and watched blankly as Dean choked and coughed on his chips for a good few minutes.

Watery eyes met his own as Dean gave one last wheeze, "What- What makes you say that?"

"He's not here and the age you are he'd probably be really old if he wasn't dead already, s'what happens in our line of business." Sam explained.

Dean looked a little lost on what to do, the internal war on whether to spare Sam the pain of knowing everything or to keep him oblivious was clear in his eyes, "Er, Dad died a year or so after you got back into the hunt and Cas joined us a year or so after that..."

"Wait," Sam said, unable to stop the swell of pride and excitement in his chest at what Dean had suggested, "What do you mean I got back into the hunt? Did I leave? What did I do?"

Dean gave Sam a weak smile and cast his eyes down to his half eaten chicken leg, "Yeah, Sammy. You, er, you went to Stanford to become a lawyer..." he trailed off, not wanting to let Sam see how much it still hurt him that he left all those years ago but, thank God, Sam didn't notice or didn't question.

A small frown cut through the teens excitement as he asked, "Why would I go back?"

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, finally broken when Dean coughed and reluctantly started to talk, "Dad went missing and I came to ask ya for some help finding him. You didn't want to be dragged back into it but your girlfriend was murdered by the thing that killed Mum so you came with me..."

The silence between them was near suffocating before Sam broke it, "Er, I got a book from the library. I read the first two in the series and I thought they were really good." he held up the book so Dean could see but as the older brother saw it, he burst out laughing.

"Oh Jesus Christ, you are such a nerd!" Dean laughed.

"Jerk!" Sam yelled back playfully as he picked up his old sock and threw it at his brother.

"Oh, you wanna go, bitch!?" Dean challenged with an evil grin.

Sam returned it with one of his own as he stood up as well, "You sure you can handle it, old man?"

"I'll show you who's an old man!" Dean growled as he tackled his brother into the bed and started to mess up his hair. Neither of them cared about the food that had been knocked to the floor, they wouldn't be able to eat even a little bit after that conversation...

 

 

  
Castiel left shortly after Dean flipped out about his idea, leaving to do it anyway despite Dean’s strong opinion of it. As much as he disliked the plan himself, they needed to know what this curse could potentially do to Sam and if it would have any lasting effects on him. He needed to find out, whether Dean approved of it or not, Sam was his friend too and he wouldn't stand to let the annoyance of the being discourage him from his goal.

"Gabriel? Brother, are you near?" Castiel called into the small but plush apartment space that Castiel felt Gabriel's presence the most. He assumed that the only reason he could find him was due to Gabriel allowing it.

An arm was suddenly around his shoulders which was accompanied by a weight and body at his side. When he looked over, it was to find Gabriel dressed in the most ridiculous clothing. His brother was wearing a thrill-y white shirt with a gold and red sparkly waist coat with neon pink shutter glasses and black skinny jeans... that was basically the only normal thing about his clothes. Music had burst to life as soon as he was touched and he only just noticed that the room was filled with flashing lights, glitter and young humans in their swimming garments.

The only thing Castiel could be bothered to do at this moment was look at his brother with his most blank expression as he begged him to make it all disappear...

"Hey, Cassie! Welcome to the party!" he screamed over the thumping music and jumped to ruffle Castiel's hair.

"Brother, we have important things to discuss and I have no time for your games." Castiel informed in his normal voice, giving his brother the intense stare he usually gave Dean when he was being too childish...

It seemed to work as Gabriel gave a loud and obnoxious groan before he snapped his fingers and everything was as it was when he first arrived. Except Gabriel was wearing the same clothes...

"What can I do for ya, bro?" he asked cheerfully as he took off the glasses that did nothing but impair his vision instead of helping it.

"We need your help."

With those words, Gabriel rolled his eyes and snapped into normal clothes. He gave an exaggerated sigh as he reluctantly asked, "What did the chuckle brothers do this time?" at Cas' frown of confusion, he rolled his eyes again and muttered a "Never mind." as he flopped ungracefully onto the sofa and gestured for Castiel to do the same.

Gabriel snapped a pair of martinis on the low glass table in front of them, downing his own before hesitating and downing the second one, "Okay, I'm ready now."

"Sam got cursed by a witch." Castiel plainly said as he stared at his brother with his usual blank face.

A silence spread between them as Castiel waited for a reaction and Gabriel just looked at him with a frozen expression. It was a few minutes before either of them said anything but Gabriel broke it when he started at laugh at his younger brother, "S-Sorry, bro," he said between fits of giggles, "The way you said it- haha- it was so funny! Hahahaha!"

Castiel waited for several minutes for Gabriel to calm down enough to speak properly, he honestly didn't understand what was so funny but he didn't see any reason or want to ask.

"Okay, okay," the Archangel breathed while he wiped his watery eyes and grinned at his youngest brother, "S-so tell me what happened from the top."

And so Cas did. He explained how it happened and the strength of the curse and that he'd brought the idea up with Dean. Throughout the thing, Gabriel would make small remarks but they all went ignored, as Cas didn't really understand most of them anyway. However, when he came to teenage Sam's reaction to the existence of angels, he became oddly serious in the matter.

"So what? He doesn't remember a thing past his actual age?" he asked, which Castiel immediately confirmed with a single nod. The thoughtful frown was instantly replaced by a devious grin and a small glint in his gold rimmed eyes, "So, if I were to meet him now, he wouldn't recognise me?"

There was only a split-second, where the only thing Cas could do was widen his eyes in realisation, before the youngest and most childish of the Archangels was gone.

Castiel was left in an empty room, staring at the seat his brother had not a second ago been occupying. He sighed at the thought of Dean ranting again about the Archangel that was truly their best opportunity of getting Sam back to the way he was. As he slowly stood up, the lights in the apartment went off, abandoning him to the pitch black that obscured his vision. If there was ever a time he wanted to consult to rude language, it was in that moment...

 

 

  
The long ageing sigh turned into a damning groan as he woke up that morning and the nightmare was real. He was in the future with his brother-now-turned-grampa and fucking angels flying all over the place.

He rolled his eyes as he turned on his side to face Dean. The older man looked like he was dead to the world and Sam would have been more concerned if the loud snores that came from his brother didn't scream his status as living. With minimal effort, Sam grabbed his pillow and threw it at his brothers face; if it didn't wake him up then hopefully it would stifle the snores.

The former happened...

"Ugh! Sammy," Dean slurred as he struggled to sit up and detangle himself from the cheap thin sheets that always came with motels to glare at his teenage brother, "Bitch."

"I was saving you, jerk," Sam shot back as he too sat up in bed, muscles tense to run, “Your snores have gotten worse, reaching motorboat capacity, and it was the only thing I could do to make it stop." he laughed as he bolted into the bathroom, Dean hot on his heels with the pillow raised over his head to attack. Sam barely made it to the bathroom and closed and locked the door before Dean could get to him.

"Bitch!" was the only thing Dean said as he turned away form the teen, who was laughing behind the locked bathroom door.

When they were both washed and dressed, they left to go to the town centre.

They went to the same place Sam had gone to previously to get some breakfast together, Dean also wanting to try out their pie. Sam was just glad that he was getting less suspicious looks now that he was with Dean (the adult who stuffed his face and spoke with his mouth full...).

"So what's Bobby up to nowadays?" Sam asked as he stuck the straw of his strawberry milkshake in his mouth.

"Alive and kicking, if that's what you mean." Dean nodded as he took another forkful of cherry pie, "He's in the same place he's always been but he doesn't go from State to State like we do."

Sam stopped drinking and eating for a few seconds as he looked at his semi-rough and lightly scarred hands, making Dean look up at him with a questioning frown. Gingerly, Sam looked up at Dean again as he asked, "Can we go visit him? I mean, you've probably just come back but I haven't seen him in..." Sam trailed off as he looked hopefully at Dean.

It only took Dean a moment to figure out that Sam was talking about the time when Dad and Bobby got into a small fight and so Dad refused to let neither him or Sammy see him for months as he dragged them from East to West of the entire country. With a small smile, Dean nodded his head; his smile broadened when he saw the look of joy on little Sammy's face, his eyes bright with laughter as he fist-bumped the air.

They went back to their food but the silence only lasted a few seconds before Sam looked back up again and asked, "How did we get mixed up with angels? And what are the demons like?"

It was that question that got Dean's memory to click. He’d realised, after Cas had left, that little Sammy didn’t have any tattoos or scars from his older years and so was vulnerable to possession. Staying up damn near all night, Dean had crafted something to help. Putting his hand in his pocket, he quickly took out the string necklace with a small anti-posession symbol hanging from it, "Look, buddy, I need you to put this on and never take it off, not for sleep, showers or shits. You do not, under any circumstances, take this off." he pressed at he gave the necklace to Sam which he put on straight away with a questioning look, "Demons can possess anyone at any time and if they don't have this symbol then they can get possessed. Me and older you have it tattooed but as your only a kid so that's completely out of the question."

Sam nodded quickly as he ducked his head through the sting and tucked the pendent into his baggy shirt before he asked, "And the angels?"

"You can ask Cas when you drop the attitude." Dean replied absentmindedly as he continued eating.

Sam's only reply was to narrow his eyes into the younger versions of his 'Bitch Face', Dean couldn't help but laugh when he saw his brother's signature look when he was pissed at something.

"What's wrong with Cas? He's actually one of the decent ones, all the others are dicks." Dean mumbled as he took a swing of his coffee. Looking at his brother, he could only sigh at the misplaced anger that his brother held for their angel member, "Come on buddy, be easy on Cas will ya? And eat your pancakes. We gotta get on the road if we wanna get to Bobby’s soon."

Sam waisted no time shovelling down the rest of his pancakes.

On the road, it would only take them about a couple of hours to get to Bobby's. Sam was sitting in shotgun, for once in his life time, and staring out the window as they drove by, staring at the normal people walking around and as kids laughed and played with no hidden knives or silver bullets for 'just in case' sakes. The music hadn't changed at all as Dean had developed a taste for it after all the years of hearing Dad play it when he drove.

The brothers sat in silence with only the sound of music in the car and Dean’s tapping to the beat on the wheel of the car, occasionally taking peeks at Sam. It was an hour into the drive when a voice sounded from the back, "Hello boys." The voice sent a cold chill down Sam's spine at the general cruel amusement in the man's voice. Dean apparently didn't do any better because he swerved into the opposite lane and nearly hit a car before he gained back control.

"Jesus fuck!!" Dean screamed as he pounded the steering wheel to get rid of the remaining adrenalin, "Crowley, what the fuck!? You could have gotten us both killed!"

The voice chuckled and as Sam swivelled around a little bit, he saw that it was a middle-aged man wearing a dark finely pressed suit, his eyes dark with amusement and his mouth curled in an evil smile as he looked at Dean, not yet bothering to acknowledge him.

"Oops," he deadpanned before he smirked again, "Maybe next time, Squirrel. How's the Moo-"

The man cut himself off as he stared at Sam with shocked wide eyes. Sam did nothing but blankly stare back at him, Dean didn't seem to be threatened by the man suddenly appearing in the back of the moving vehicle - that didn't mean he was going to let go of his silver dagger he'd tucked up his sleeve. Rolling his eyes at the continued shock, Sam turned back to Dean with an unimpressed expression as he asked, "This isn't another one of your stupid angel friends is it?"

That snapped the man out of it...

The man or creature- Crowley- spluttered and glared at the teenager, he seemed a little offended if Sam had to guess, "No, I am not one of those winged rats, thank you very much," he said matter-of-factly as he straightened out his tie and brushed down the flaps of his suit.

"Then what the fuck are you?" Sam asked plainly, ignoring his brother's glares, obviously not wanting Sam to talk to the creature (or whatever it was).

Crowley gave a prideful grin as he lifted his chin ever so slightly and stated, "I'm Crowley, the King of Hell."

The silence that followed was so thick that if it were a Disney movie, there'd be a cricket sounding in the background...

Rolling his eyes was getting to be a little painful due to how often he seemed to do it so Sam just huffed before he turned back to watching everything outside the window trickling by like running water on a window.

He could practically feel the disbelieving stare the demon was giving Sam, the stare burning into the back of his head. Sam didn't really give two shits and if his brother wasn't attacking then their was a good reason behind it that he didn't understand at this moment. He then went back to the English homework that he didn't have to do now because he wasn't in school anymore.

"I think I like this version of Moose, he hasn't even tried to kill me yet." Crowley said in a very pleased tone to his brother.

"What do you want Crowley?" Dean asked in an exasperated voice.

"Well, I was wondering if you boys could do my a favour but with our Moose now turned into Baby Moose, I don't think now is the time."

Sam could defiantly understand the reason the demon called him a 'Moose', judging by his clothes, he was huge as his adult self. He briefly looked to the back seat where the demon was chilling out before he looked back out the window and said in an annoyed voice, "It's fine, I've been hunting for years and it's not like I have to get used to the regression of my body so I'll be fine. Last time I checked I could still shoot all the bottles Dad always put out and I can easily handle a knife."

An awkward silence settled between the three in the car as Crowley looked at Sam with no small amount of shock and Dean's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"We're a little swamped right now, Crowley." Dean pressed, keeping his eyes firmly on the road in front.

"Why? Is it because you don't want to work with a fifteen year old, Dean? A week ago you wouldn't have hesitated to let me come along on a hunt with you and Dad." Sam retorted as he crossed his arms and gave a side glare at Dean.

"Well, Dad's not here! He may not have cared what happened to us but I sure as hell do! You aren't doing jack-shit until we have this witch curse figured out!" Dean yelled in turn.

"It doesn't matter! If there's trouble then it's our job as hunters to check it out! If the curse turns out to be killing me then it doesn't matter! Part of our job isn't it?! Protect, die and be forgotten! That's what Dad always taught us, so what's so different now?!" Sam shouted back at his brother but as he finished, the other occupants in the car were silent. Dean was breathing hard through his nose and he'd picked up the speed in their argument. The demon in the back looked like he wanted to have a tub of pop-corn to make the moment.

Dean turned on the music once again, having paused it when Crowley appeared in the car, and said through gritted teeth, "We're not doing it."

The rest of the journey was done in silence; the demon took off not long after the icy silence started. They arrived at Bobby's late into the night and the brothers walked to the front door together. Sam brushed his arm slightly against Dean's arm as they walked, silently apologising. Dean responded with his own. All was well once again...

* * *

* * *

 


	2. Gabriel’s Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New update, yay!!

It must have been two hours of yelling and the ranting still wasn't over.

After Bobby opened the door, he was instantly tackled by Sam into a giant hug as he shouted in utter glee, "Uncle Bobby!”. The old hunter looked like he was about to have a heart attack when he saw the little Sam he remembered from all those years ago. The room was filled with ecstatic teenage babble as Sam swarmed around Bobby, telling him about the last time he saw him and that the hunter looked really ‘spry' in his old age.

The excited chatter didn't last long, Bobby snapped out of his stupor and rounded on Dean and Sam with such a furious glare that both fell quiet instantly. After he forced out the explanation from Dean, he rounded on both Winchesters and started the two hour long rant filled with comments about being stupid and being idjits, calling Sam a self sacrificing moose and Dean a dumb ass. It was all very long and repetitive.

After they got the hunter to calm down, he allowed them to eat and rest at his place for however long they wanted or needed to.

In the morning, Dean went into the kitchen but stopped just outside the doorframe as he watched the scene in front of him. Sam was by the stove trying to handle a frying pan with a few pieces of egg and bacon sizzling away on it, but looked to be struggling with his underdeveloped skill of cooking, and Bobby laughing and trying to guide the teen in doing it the correct way. It was all very domestic and Dean couldn't help the sad smile that twitched at his lips as he caught the bright smiles on both of their faces - he could barely remember a time that Sam smiled so soft and warmly in doing something so normal...

Once they all finally sat down for breakfast with the bacon extra crispy and the eggs a little burnt, Sam brought up something that Dean knew was coming for some days now, "So," Sam started tentatively, "Can I go back to school anytime soon?"

Dean couldn't help but sigh at the hope in his brother's voice, Sammy always did like school better than he did, "Er, maybe later, yeah? As soon as we find out some more info on what the witch did to ya, you can go. But right now, we don't know if this is permanent or if this is temporary. We could send you to school and you'll turn back into an adult right in the middle of class."

At the expression on Sam's face, Dean knew he won this one, Sam always found it very hard to fight against good logic.

Later in the day, while Sam was outside with some books, Dean and Bobby started to talk.

"So how old is he?" Bobby asked, before he offered a beer to Dean and sat down in his comfortable chair with a delighted groan.

Nodding his head in thanks and taking a swing, Dean replied, "He's about fifteen. It was around the time that you and Dad had that argument and refused to come visit for a while.”

Bobby grumbled at the reminder of the fight. He and John had had many arguments, often getting into fist fights with each other as a result, but that was the first time that John had held the kids' visits over his head to get back at him. It was not a very happy moment in his life...

"He knows that Dad's dead but he just took that like a sour pill, I think he's at the age that he started havin' all those arguments with Dad. Those last few years before he went off to Stanford was hell for him though, so I don't blame him. And he doesn't like any of the angels." Dean added with a small huff.

"Can't blame him for that, that's for sure." Bobby laughed as he slapped his knee and took another gulp of his cool beer, "I don't think I've ever met one hunter that liked the idea of angels flutterin' about."

Dean could only roll his eyes slightly before he kicked back in his chair and revelled in the companionable silence.

 

   
Sam couldn't really say there was much to do at Bobby's and, on some level, he'd hopped that Bobby might back him up to go back to school. Dean had always been a better hunter with his enthusiasm and passion for it; Sam half suspected that he got a kick out of doing something with Dad and Sam, like a small pretend family vacation.

Dad had never approved of Sam liking school over hunting, he'd always receive a frown whenever he wanted to go to the library to get some studying or his homework done. Dean always followed Dad's wishes, completely oblivious to his own want and desires. But Bobby had always been the 'fun uncle’ Sam always enjoyed visiting. Bobby was always more accepting that he preferred school, he'd often catch the old hunted smiling slightly as Sam talked and talked about his teachers and the students and annoying bullies that he could easily beat up. Bobby had always encouraged Sam with his love for school, unlike anyone else, who would either speak over him about another hunt or glare at him until he shut up about it.

It was a little bit of a let down that Bobby agreed that he should leave off school for a bit but he couldn't argue with the logic his brother set on the table, making Sam fold until farther notice.

Sam stooped lowly to pick up a bent metal pole that most likely used to belong to a car somewhere and started to swing it through the air, hitting some of the taller plants as he did so. He walked until he came to the very back for the scrap yard where there were thin trees and barren ground with patches of grass here and there. He walked farther into the thin trees, which were beginning to thicken, to a small clearing.

It wasn't very big but he remembered finding it a few years ago when he wanted to get away from the chatter of monsters and hunting. It was peaceful and had rocks dotted around it, just big enough to sit on. Squatting on one of the rocks, Sam rubbed his hands over his face, before he sighed into them and then raked them through his hair; doing the best to ignore the burning in his eyes and throat.

Gritting his teeth, he thought about what Dean had said. He said that ‘Older Sam' had got out, freed from the dangerous and depressing life of hunting, went on to focus on school, just like he'd always dreamed of, only to get back dragged in! What was wrong with him?! Why did he go back!? Was he that stupid at the time?! He felt frustrated with his older self for going back to this life and he felt betrayed that he was ever dragged into it in the first place. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks as his whole frame started to shake with his frustration and anger, a small, broken sob making it past the painful lump in his throat.

"You okay?"

Jumping up in shock, instinctively pulling out a hidden knife while raising his metal pole, Sam whipped around to face the intruder. He came face to face with a boy, no older than himself. He was a little bit taller than Sam, but Sam had always been bellow the average height, and he had gleaming amber eyes that shined gold when the light hit them. His hair was a blond colour, swept neatly back and flicking out ever so slightly at the ends. Distantly, Sam thought the guy was good looking, kinda cute.

At the sight of the weapons, the other teen instantly tensed up as his eyes grew wide in a mix of fear and shock, his hands instantly going up in the universal gesture of surrender and 'no harm done'. His reaction was what any normal person would do but Sam kept his guard up, eyes narrowed in suspicion as he said in a strong and commanding voice, "Who are you and what do you want?"

The teen tried to take a step forward but at Sam's step back, he stood still once again, "Name's Gabe and I was just swinging by to see Bobby Singer."

Sam narrowed his eyes once more before he dropped his weapons to his sides and asked, "Why the hell did you come this way?"

The teen, Gabe, seemed to duck his head in embarrassment as he raised a hand to rub the back of his neck, a blush starting to visibly grow on his cheeks, "My, er- My old man sent me here, his car broke down a little ways off and we just moved here so it's packed with all our stuff. Some of the locals said to come here so my Dad's looking after the car while I cut through here. And then I heard someone crying and I thought-"

"I wasn't crying." Sam growled with a glare at the stranger, more angry and embarrassed at himself for being caught.

"Er, the tear stains on your face suggests otherwise, kiddo." the teen said with a pointed look, making Sam quickly rub away the traces of his tears.

The two stood and stared at each other for a while, before Sam looked away and grumbled, "I'm fine and we're about the same age." then he said a little clearer, with a nod of his head in the scrap yard's direction, "Bobby's is that way, best be getting going."

Gabe seemed to contemplate something for a minute, before he walked closer to Sam, having to stop once again as Sam lifted up the metal pole as a reminder, "Hold on, I will stop pestering you, if you answer this one question for me, yeah?" he carried on before Sam could gave him an answer, "Why were you crying?"

The reaction was almost instantaneous, as Sam's face become carefully blank, closing off even more than it was before, and said in an equally blank voice, "I wasn't crying." before he walked off in the other direction.

Distantly, Sam could hear the teen give a tired sigh before he walked away as well.

 

 

  
  
At first, Gabriel didn't know what Cas was so worried about. The mini-Winchester looked fine, damn cute as a kid and a hell of a lot shorter than what he was used to seeing (he was even smaller that Gabriel's vessel!) but he still had that same nerdy aura about him and Gabriel knew that the spell used would cause no lasting effects with only a minor issue or two.

Nothing had really changed about the kid except his appearance. What he first saw of the mini-Winchester, he spent the entire day in the library doing research on angels and the new year he found himself in.

It was all pretty normal and he couldn't help but laugh along when the Winchester brothers laughed and joked with each other, it was the most carefree and happiest he'd ever seen either of the brothers. He was a little shocked when he realised they could acutely smile at first, he forgot that their faces could do anything other than frown. It was a nice change...

What really disturbed him was their trip to Bobby Singer's place. The demon riding in the back was a little surprise but whatever they got up to in life was hardly anything to do with him... And Sam's comment of 'stupid angels' explained Castiel's concern and Gabriel did not appreciate the insult _at all_! He'd get back at him for it later. However, the conversation that occurred was more attention grabbing than anything. It left Gabriel wondering when the brothers had started training as hunters, he knew it was young but... now he was a little concerned. It mostly sounded like John Winchester was a dead-beat Dad and put hunting above everything else.

Their time in Bobby's home was fun to watch, especially when the old hunter was trying to teach Sammy how to cook, only to epically fail in the attempt; the kid looked really happy. But then, he watched as Sam raised the subject of school and his carefully blank expression when they turned it down. When the kid decided to take a little walk, finally alone and away from his brother and everyone else, Gabriel made an appearance.

You could only imagine his surprise when he walked in on the more stoic and clam brother crying in the small clearing, head bowed and long hair falling forlornly in front of his face, making to shadow his eyes. Suddenly, he felt his heart shift a little, almost painfully as the brave, strong and slightly annoying hunter he'd once pranked on occasion, completely fall apart all alone with no one by his side. The painful twinge in his chest was startlingly confusing so Gabriel decided to make his presence known, morphing his body to look like a younger addition of his vessel and shortening his real name; people seemed more at ease with people being their own age.

That ended up being a stupid ass idea but at least he wasn’t dead!

The kid version of Sam didn't act like a kid should, even his soul wasn't as bright as it was meant to be at his age. His soul was dull, if slightly brighter than his adult-self's soul, it was dull with the horrors he'd seen and the things he's had to do to survive his life so far. He may not have known the brothers’ childhood but he knew enough. Sam needed something to ground himself on, a normality that he wouldn’t get from being around his much more older brother. School was probably the best option.

With a tired sigh, Gabriel walked to Bobby Singer's house as he couldn't really be bothered to fly the short way and he wanted to delay the hunter's, mainly Dean's, yelling and insulting attitude towards him. It got really boring of hearing the same promises of painful deaths after a while...

Taking a deep breath, Gabriel put on his most brightest smile and opened the door wide for all to see him and said, "I, the almighty Archangel Gabriel, have come on my baby bro's command." he said in a dramatic and deep voice.

His impressive entrance was met with groans of annoyance and exasperation. Rude.

"Piss off, douche-bag." came Dean's first insult of many.

"Aw, come on Dean-o, I've come to your aid out of the goodness of my heart." he said with a hand over his heart.

"You don't have one and if you do, it’s black." Dean retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Fine," he started with a defeated tone, "You can call on one of the other Archangels to help your brother, I'm sure they'd be just _thrilled_ to help."

Turning on his heel, Gabriel made his way to the door that was still wide open but was abruptly stopped by Dean's, "Wait!" Gabriel knew that he had won the battle as soon as he mentioned his older brothers, they all knew that Gabriel was the best option out of the four. Slowly, with as much of an innocent face he could pull, Gabriel turned back around to face the pained and disgusted expression of the oldest Winchester, "Tell us what's wrong with Sammy."

"What's the magic word?" Gabriel sing-songed.

In all honesty, Gabriel was surprised that the old hunter could move fast enough to stop Dean from trying to hack his head off. After a few quiet and harsh whispers, Dean's reluctant voice flowed from behind the elderly man, "Can you help us… Please?"

Plastering on a bright smile, Gabriel stepped into the room once more and threw himself on the free sofa, sighing into the worn but comfortable cushions. Opening his eyes and sitting up after a couple of minutes, Gabriel found that the two hunters were sitting as well, a little tense but still sitting.

"Your brother's in no danger and the spell should wear off in a month." he fired off and watched, with an amused smile, as both hunters visibly deflated with relief, "However," he added, making the hunters tense up once again, "If he doesn't want to come back then it could be that Samsquash wont turn back."

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?!"

"Calm it, dumbass!" Gabriel snapped, effectively making the hunter fall quiet once again, "I mean that if Sam doesn't want to become an adult again, meaning his life sucks and he doesn't want to do it, then he'll stay as a kid and grow up all over again. But that's a giant, all capital 'MAYBE', it could just turn him back in a month or so but if he feels so strongly about something, he'll stay like that until he feels ready."

There was a confused silence in the room as the hunters tried to process what they'd just been told until Bobby spoke up, lines of confusion still stuck to his forehead, "So your sayin'... that if Sam doesn't want to go back to his old life that he'll stay a kid?" at Gabriel's nod, he sits back in his chair and lets out a bone tired sigh as he hides his face in his hands.

Dean, on the other hand, was practically vibrating with anger, "Great! Now we're not gonna get Sam back to his regular age, ever! Our lives suck! There's no way he'll want to be an adult again!"

As the hunter started to pace, Gabriel could only watch their reactions with a thoughtful expression, a plan conjuring in his mind that the hunters hadn't noticed. Clapping his hands, the angel gained the room's attention and with a sly grin that meant nothing good, he cheerfully waves and offered a, "See ya!" before snapping his fingers and then he was gone.

 

  
Sam decided to walk into the closest town near Bobby's place. It was always a small town and the town hadn't really changed in the years through his adulthood; it was still small and peaceful with just a few newly added coffee shops here and there. With the remaining cash of the 20 Dean had given him when he'd first woken up to the future, he set out to the nearest coffee shop to have a hot one and sooth his frayed nerves. He didn't really expect a hand to grab him and pull him into the dark ally-way.

With a large hand clamped over his mouth, Sam wasn't able to shout in surprise as he was shoved roughly against the brick wall. Opening his eyes, which he had briefly closed from the pain, Sam was confronted with his vision filled with a pair of deep blue eyes.

"Hello Sam." came the gravelly and familiar voice of the man over him.

Frowning his confusion and anger, Sam brought his fist up into the man's stomach and across the man's face. This did nothing other than hurt his knuckles. He opened his mouth in a silent painful cry as he shook out his hand, the man having let go and tilting his head in confusion. It was at that moment that Sam caught sight of a tan trench coat and knew exactly who it was.

"Sam, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." he growled out, giving the angel one of his best death glares. Once the pain resided a little, Sam stood to his full height- which wasn't that high- and asked in a tired voice, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you." came the plane reply.

"So you decided to yank me into an ally-way like some obsessive stalker or murderer?!" Sam hissed before he shook his head and began to walk out of the ally-way. A strong hand gripping his bicep instantly stopped him.

"I'm sorry of I offended you..." he tried, looking like he was having a hard time searching for the correct words, "May I join you?"

Sam eyed him suspiciously, for a second he thought of telling the angel to piss off but then he remembered Dean asking him to give ‘Cas’ as chance. Sighing Sam nodded his head and walked out of the alley and to the shop he had his eyes set on.

Once he got to the counter, he briefly looked back and saw Cas following and placed his order, "Two marshmallow hot chocolates please."

Once they got their drinks, the angel and teenager sat down opposite each other in silence. Sam stirred in his marshmallows quietly before he looked up at the angel whose gaze was resting heavily on him.

"What did you want to talk about?" Sam finally asked, getting irritated with the continued silence.

"Dean said you don't like me." came the forward reply but Sam didn't miss a beat,

"Yeah, I don't."

"May I ask why?"

"You may not."

Silence.

"I don't understand." came the confused admission from the angel, "You were not angry when we first met."

Sam rolled his eyes at the attitude of his older self, looks like he became the forgiving type... "Are humans even right about angels? Are you saviours? Warriors of God? Defeaters of evil and bringers of light?" at Cas's slight nod of head, Sam glares daggers at him as he hisses, "I've seen a lot of bull shit in my life and what takes the cake is people's belief in angels and God. You don't deserve the praise you get from every poor sucker that goes to church even though, you’ll never help then. You act all high and mighty when you're no better than the rest of us."

Silence once again flowed between them as Cas only looked at his hot chocolate and Sam started to finish off his own. As he went to get up, Cas's hand shot out to grab his wrist, "If I have wronged you in some way then I am truly sorry."

Ripping his hand away from the angel, a dark look on his young face that, by all rights, should never be on a face so young, "Stop giving out pointless apologise, you don't even know what your sorry for." was all he said before walking out of the shop. Leaving the angel alone to look at his still full hot chocolate, a lost look in his eyes.

It was getting dark when Sam walked through the Bobby's door having gone to the library after the pointless conversation with Castiel but he instantly stopped at the sight before him. Dean appeared to be walking in circles, chewing on his nails and looking a little more worried than usual. Even when they were both young, Dean was like the mum that was way too over protective of their kids and constantly worried but this was kind of ridiculous...

"Hey, Dean." Sam greeted warily, giving his brother a strange look as he whipped around to face him, hand instantly flying from his mouth to his pocket. Probably in an attempt to act casual...

"Hey! Sammy--"

"Your acting skills are terrible." Sam deadpanned making his brother's fake smile fall into something like a pout, "What's wrong?"

For a second, it looked as if Dean would try to deny and attempt to fool his brother again before his shoulders sagged in visible defeat. Taking a deep breath, "We found out some details about the spell. Our guy said that this could last a month, longer if some other things happen. So... me and Bobby had gotten to talkin' and we thought that in the time that we wait," Dean paused, his lips pulled into a thin line, taking on a displeased expression, but the spark of mischief in his eyes let Sam know that Dean was pretending, "You get to go to school here." he finally finished as he broke out into a wide grin.

Sam could hardly contain the surge of happiness at the news, throwing his arms around his brother, thick clothes making his brother larger and harder to get his hands to touch. His struggles obviously showed because Dean gave off a deep chuckle as he asked in an extremely amused voice, "Having trouble with your short arms?"

"Shut up," Sam glowered when they separated, Sam staking a few steps back, "This just goes to show that you're fat in old age."

Laughing, Sam legged it to the other end of the house to try and find salvation with Bobby as Dean tried to process what had just been said to him. The loud, "You little shit!" and heavy thumps of foot steps had Sam laughing harder.

 

  
It was two days later that Sam was walking down the halls of the local High School with Dean by his side, dressed in a freaking _suit_ , of all things! Sam could still remember the year before when Dean cursed all the suit jackets on Earth and now he's wearing one with no complaint.

His staring must have been a bit obvious because Dean was turning towards him with a smirk in place and an eye-brow raised in question, "Yes?"

Shaking his head, Sam purposefully looked his brother up and down before he whispered, "You look like your attending a funeral."

"Well, in my eyes I am. I'm attending my little brother's trip back to educational hell," Dean murmured back before he grinned and slapped a hard hand on Sam's back, forcing a bit of air out of his lungs in the process, "I'll be sad to see ya go, Sammy..."

Sam gave a small snort as he shifted the light backpack that he'd slung over his shoulder.

Looking around, Sam could see that High School hadn't changed. They were walking through the class halls on their way to get Sam registered to join the school. Everything was the same except for the style of clothing people wore - different brands and colours. There was still writing on the lockers, still teachers rushing to class and there were still bullies. Although, girls seemed to like getting more involved on that aspect...

Cringing at the thought, Sam quickly looked away form the group of obviously popular girls ganging up on one with plain brown hair and thick glasses. Great. The thing he hated most about school was all the bullies that had obvious problems of their own but refused to acknowledge them.

A light shove on his shoulder had him looking back up at Dean who had a small encouraging smile on his face, "Chill, man, you'll do great. If any of these jokers come at you, you just go ahead and knock 'em out, yeah? Or you came to me and I'll do it."

Sam couldn't help the bitch face that appeared automatically whenever his brother did or said something dumb or stupid. Part of him couldn't help a little bubble of happiness that Dean said the same thing he always had whenever they had to go to a new school. "Yeah, no. Keep your nose out of my business old man. And you can't hit a minor, you'll go to jail."

His dope of a brother only shrugged, before he faced forward once again, grin still in place. Sam sighed before he went back to observing his surroundings, listing in his head who was foe and who was ally. Suddenly, he caught a flash of gold. Narrowing his eyes, Sam slowly moved them over the few students in the hall. Almost instantly, he saw the golden-eyed teen gathering his text books and turning around. When the boy looked up, their eyes met for a moment before the teen - Gabe? Was it? - gave him a wide grin and a wink before he headed off. Sam couldn't control the heat rising to his cheeks as he remembered the way he'd greeted the boy. Completely embarrassing...

It was a matter of minutes before they reached the principles office. After a moment Dean went in, a bright smile on his face as he stepped in but Sam knew that it was fake. Anyone that knew Dean would know that it was all fake.

They'd gone over their cover in the car. Dean was his dad and they were the Wester family. He was a happy child and has just moved into town to get a change in scenery and his mum died when he was six months old, house fire, gas leak... They were currently living with his 'Uncle Bobby' at Bobby Singer's scrap yard, an uncle on his mothers side. He was born and grew up in Philadelphia and his 'Dad's' job is a mechanic but he's going to help Bobby for a little bit before he goes job hunting.

That was their story and Dean and Bobby had gone over it for hours with him, making sure he didn't hesitate and making sure he remembered everything about his fake life (it was close to the truth but still all fake).

An hour later, the bell sounded to signal the start of school, thirty minutes more had Dean and the principle finally walking out of the office and shaking hands, both had polite smiles on their faces.

It was five minutes later that had him in front of the entire class and telling them 'a little about himself'.

With a small timid smile, he stared out at the class, all eyes trained on him, probably looking for a flaw in any part of him, "Name's Sam Wester and I like dogs but my dad wont let me have one." was all he said before he sat down at the back of the class room.

The teacher looked a little lost on what to do with his abrupt departure, Sam just sat down and ignored the lingering stares that made him want to fidget and shift in his seat. His first lesson had been Maths which came easily enough for him, the teacher didn't pick on him and he was able to just do the work he wanted with no spit balls flying his way.

Next was Science. Thankfully the teacher wasn't concerned with introducing him to the class and so he sat down in the next available seat. It just so happened that he was sat next to Gabe. Ducking his head in more embarrassment, Sam quickly slid into the stool next to Gabe before he took out what he'd likely need for the lesson and dropped his bag to the floor.

Determinedly, Sam faced the front and listened to the teachers instructions for the experiment they were doing that lesson, expertly ignoring the burning eyes on the side of his head. When the instructions ended with a 'Turn to the person next to you.’ Sam knew that he was screwed and that there was no avoiding him.

With great reluctance, Sam turned to face the bright eyed and grinning teen next to him. The kid looked to be enjoying his discomfort as he held out a hand to shake his own. As Sam completed the gesture, Gabe's grin widened, "So, I didn't catch your name last time. You know," he said conversationally, "When you threatened me with a knife?"

Sam could only groaned, long and loud before he spoke once again, "Look, I'm sorry I scared you but I was stressed and you caught me off guard."

"Why would you have a knife on you in the first place?"

Sam's only answer was a bitch face to show the guy to mind his own goddamn business. It worked as the guy only held up his hands in surrender and started to pull out all the necessary items for the experiment.

In Sam's opinion, the silence wasn't long enough, "So you gonna tell me your name or what, sunshine?"

"Sam. My name's Sam." 

"Thanks Samshine." Gabe said with one last wink before they got to work. Turns out, Gabe's pretty good at science and not an incompetent idiot like Sam had guessed him to be.

Soon the lesson was over and Sam was off to break; he just spent that time in the library.

The next lessons were History and English which also went off without a hitch. Gabe happened to be in his English class but he was thankfully across the other side of the room to where he was sitting. Don't get him wrong, the guy seemed nice but Sam had learned the hard way that it's not worth having friends when you have to leave them in a few days.

Unfortunately, Gabe caught up to him in the hallways.

"Sam!" he yelled loud enough for people to start staring at him weirdly. Sam only walked faster as he headed to the cafeteria, "SAMSHINE! DON'T LEAVE ME!”

A strong arm suddenly hung loosely from around his shoulders with Gabe's grinning face attached to the appendage.

"What do you want?" Sam asked, not really in the mood to have his money stolen from him. Again.

"I just wanted to hang." Gabe said and there was so much honest confusion in his voice that Sam felt himself starting to relent.

"Why?"

"Um," he boy trailed off, obviously not expected Sam to question, "We're both new here and I find you kinda interesting? So, you wanna eat lunch with me?"

Sam stared at the other teen for a couple of seconds before he figured 'what the hell?' and nodded along with it. And so, Sam's lunch hour consisted of Sam and Gabe exchanging prank stories with their older brothers. Sam was a little reluctant and surprised to admit that he had enjoyed hanging out with Gabe.

He also would never admit that he was a little disappointed that he and Gabe had separate classes for their last lesson. Sam had wood-works while Gabe had gym class. As he walked to his class, he missed the gentle smile on Gabe's face and the strange twinkle in his eye.

Wood works had never been Sam's favourite subject but he wasn't bad at it. In fact, he was quite good at it, he knew all the equipment and how to use them, but he found the subject boring and repetitive in a very boring and dreary way.

The last hour seemed to fly by and soon the last bell was ringing and everyone was packed in the halls, all the students moving like a huge wave in one direction.

Not long after, Sam was through Bobby's door. His bag dropped to the floor with a thump as his arms started to fail in support, his legs just barely carrying him. The first days of school was always tiring and stressful, no matter how many times he'd done it before.

Grumbling, Sam trudged upstairs and, with absolutely no gracefulness, he flopped onto his bed. His shoes were still on and the blankets were screwed up beneath him but he hardly even notice as he slipped into dream land.

* * *

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right! This was supposed to be a short fic but I have a feeling that I’m going to stretch this out for a bit longer…
> 
> Hope you’re liking it so far! Will update soon, no worries!


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